Paper sheet counting machine



Sept-5,1967. I s e GOTO 3,339,918

PAPER SHEET COUNTING MACHINE Filed July 26, 1965 9 FIG. 3

L FILL TIME DETECTOR FOR y D2 "D PILED 7 UP BILLS E 0F REJECTING FORK FIG. 4

I INVENTOR SFIJiO GOTO BY A a/u/nrrl mule;

United States Patent Ofiice 3,339,918 PAPER SHEET COUNTING MACHINE Sajlo Goto, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa-ken, Japan, assignor to Kabushiki Kaisha Tokyo Koki Seizojo, Tokyo-to, Japan, a joint-stock company of Japan Filed July 26, 1965, Ser. No. 474,739 Claims priority, application Japan, July 27, 1964, 39/ 59,403 2 Claims. (Cl. 271-64) This invention relates to an automatic counting machine for counting sheets of papers, bills, printed papers, and the like.

The conventional paper sheet counting machine comprises a conveyor, preferably in the form of a pair of endless belts, between which a path for papers (for brevity hereinafter referred to as bills) is defined. At the entrance end of said path is disposed a supply roll which cooperates with a restraining plate to successively supply bills one after the other to said path. A counter is disposed along the path to count the number of sheets of the bills. Further, in order to prevent miscounting of the bills when two or more bills are stacked or superposed on each other, or successive bills are so closely spaced that the counter fails to count individual bills, the ordinary expedient is to detect such abnormal conditions and reject such bills that are not regularly counted by the counter. Accordingly, a rejecting mechanism is provided at the exit end of the conveyor to reject bills in such abnormal conditions, one or more detectors to detect stacked bills and closely spaced bills are provided along the path thereof between the counter and the supply roll. When any one of these detectors detect such an abnormal condition of bills, it operates the rejector mechanism to reject such bills from the regularly counted bills, and concurrently therewith it renders inoperative the counter. In this way, the indication of the counter accurately coincides with the number of regularly counted bills.

The prior counting machine, however, is so constructed that it is stopped when the rejecting mechanism is operated in response to the operation of the detector to detect abnormal conditions of bills. Thus, the operator is required to manually reset the rejecting mechanism and then press a starting switch to resume the normal operation of the counting machine.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a novel counting machine which can operate continuously by automatically resetting the rejecting mechanism.

Another object of this invention is to provide a simple control circuit for the rejecting mechanism which can maintain the rejecting mechanism in operated condition for a predetermined interval.

Still another object is to provide a simple control circuit which renders inoperative the counter while the rejecting mechanism is operating.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of this invention the control circuit comprises a transistor which is rendered conductive in response to the presence of an abnormal condition of the bill and a relay which is energized by the current through the transistor to operate the rejecting mechanism concurrently with the cut-off of the counter circuit. Furthermore, a capacitor is provided, said capacitor being so connected that it will be changed through said relay to establish an energizing circuit for said relay independent of the transistor. In this way, the relay and hence the rejecting mechanism are maintained in their operated conditions for a predetermined interval and then reset automatically.

The novel features which characterize this invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The in- Vention itself, however, both as to its organization and 3,339,918 Patented Sept. 5, 1967 method of operation together further objects and advantages thereof may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals, and in which.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a counting machine;

FIG. 2 is a side vie wet the counting machine shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for a description of the operation of the counting machine; and

FIG. 4 is an electric connection diagram of a control circuit which is constructed in accordance with the principle of this invention.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawing, a stack of bills 10 is loosely supported on a supply roll 11 so that, when the roll rotates, sheets of bills are successively payed out into a path defined by pairs of endless belts 12 and 13. A restraining plate 11 is provided to feed the bills one after the other. The number of sheets of bills is counted by a suitable counter 14, which in the illustrated example comprises a source of light or an incandescent lamp 14 and a photocell or a phototransistor 14 which are disposed on the opposite sides of said path of the bills.

In a counting machine of the type outlined hereinabove, when two or more sheets of bills are supplied from the supply roll 11 in stacked state or in closely spaced state, the counter will indicate a smaller number of bills than actual. In order to prevent such miscounting operation, it is usual to provide suitable supervisory means to detect such abnormal states. In the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, five detectors 18 and 19 of these supervisory means are provided between the counter 14 and the supply roll 11. Similar to the counter 14, each of these detectors comprises a source of light and a photocell or phototransistor disposed on the opposite sides of the path of bills. As shown. three detectors 18 for closely spaced bills are disposed along the center line of said path of bills with an equal spacing therebetween, the arrangement being such that when all of these detectors 18 are covered by independent bills the rejecting mechanism is operated.

With suitable selection of the spacing between adjacent detectors 18, when the spacings between successive bills are smaller than a predetermined value, all of the detectors 18 will be simultaneously covered by successive bills, whereas when said spacing is larger than said predetermined value, at least one of the detectors 18 is exposed to light rays. On the other hand, two detectors 19 for stacked bills are disposed on the opposite sides of said center line of the path of bills. The reason for installing two detectors 19 transversely is to prevent the counter 14 from miscounting a bill which is folded back on itself, when two or more stacked bills cover any one of these detectors 19, the quantity of light rays impinging thereon is decreased greatly, whereby the rejecting mechanism is operated only for this condition.

As the output from each of these detectors is relatively small, a suitable amplifier and relay are used to provide sufi'iciently large power to the rejecting mechanism. At the discharge end of the counting machine there is provided a rejecting fork 15 having an operating shaft disposed coaxially with a rotary solenoid 16 so that when the latter is energized, bills which are stacked or spaced closely are deflected into a reject box 20. At this time the counter circuit is interrupted to prevent counting operation as will be described later. On the other hand, bills supplied with proper spacing are counted regularly and discharged from the counting machine into a receiver 17. i

The prior art counting machine is so constructed that, upon operation of said supervisory means and rejecting mechanism, it stops its operation. Thus it is necessary for the operator to reset the counting machine by pressing a starting switch after restoring the rejecting mechanism to the original state.

This invention contemplates automatic resetting of the rejecting mechanism and hence the counting machine. Thus, in accordance with this invention, when the rejecting mechanism is operated in response to the presence of stacked or closely spaced bills, the rejecting mechanism is reset after a predetermined interval to prepare for the normal operation of the counting machine. More particularly, when the bills are conveyed with regular spacings, the machine continues to count the number of bills, but when stacked or closely spaced bills are detected, the rejecting mechanism is operated.

FIG. 3 is a diagram to show the travel of a bill through a detector for stacked bills and past the rejecting fork. If it is assumed that:

D represents the distance between the detector for stacked bills and the detector of the counter.

D the distance between the detector of the counter and the rejecting fork.

D the width of the bill, and V the traveling speed of the bill, then the amplifier, relay, etc., in the rejector circuit are required to operate to interrupt the circuit of the counter within an interval of time which is the time require-d for a bill to travel through a distance D, between the detector for stacked bills and the detector of the counter. Moreover, it is necessary to maintain the rejector circuit in the operated condition until an interval of time T =(D +D +D V has elapsed, which is the time required for a bill to travel between the detector for stacked bills and the rejecting fork. With this arrangement, as soon as a bill passes through the counting machine, the rejector circuit is restored to prepare for succeeding bills. The operation of the machine in response to the detection of the existence of closely spaced bills is the same as that above described.

FIG. 4 shows a connection diagram of an electric control circuit for providing the above described functions. Since operations for rejecting stacked bills and closely spaced bills are identical, only the operation for rejecting stacked bills will be described as follows:

When the detector 19 of stacked bills is covered by only one bill the resistance of the detector and hence the voltage drop thereacross are still sufliciently low to hold a transistor 21 in a non-conductive state. However, when stacked bills cover the detector, its resistance is increased to cause the transistor to assume the conductive state to operate a relay 23. When this relay is operated, it will move its contact 24 to its upper side to operate the rotary solenoid 16, whereby the rejecting fork is actuated. As has been pointed out hereinabove, it is necessary to maintain the rotary solenoid in erergized state until the stacked bills pass through the rejecting fork. In accordance with this invention, a capacitor 25 is provided to provide this function. As shown in FIG. 4, the capacitor 25 is normally connected across a resistor 27 via another contact 26 of the relay 23, said resistor 27 being connected between the emitter electrode of the transistor 21 and the negative side of the power source. Thus, when the relay 23 operates, the contact 26 is thrown to the upper side to connect the capacitor 25 between the collector electrode of the transistor and said negative side, thus establishing a charging circuit for the capacitor independent of the transistor, the magnitude of the charging current being determined by the resistance of the relay 23 and the capacitance of the capacitor 25. Upon completion of the charging, the relay 23 is deenergized to deenergize the rotary solenoid, thus returning the rejecting fork to the original position. Thus, by properly selecting the capacitance of the capacitor 25, it is possible to set the operating period of the rejecting mechanism to any desired value. The relay 23 is provided with a third contact 28 which is arranged to be operated concurrently with the contacts 24 and 26 so as to interrupt the counting circuit 29 while the rejecting mechanism is in operation. The operation of the rejecting mechanism for closely spaced bills is the same as that described above except that three detectors 18 are connected in parallel. Thus, as long as any one of the detectors 18 is exposed to light rays, the transistor 21 is maintained non-conductive, but it is rendered conductive to operate the relay 23 when all of the detectors 18 are covered by successive bills.

While I have illustrated and described a specific form of counting apparatus embodying my invention, various other arrangements and applications will occur to those skilled in the art. I do not, therefore, desire my invention to be limited to the details of construction and specific arrangement disclosed and I intend, by the appended claims, to cover all modifications which fall within the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim is: 1. In a paper sheet counting machine comprising supply means adapted to successively suply paper sheets along a predetermined path, a first detector means to detect the existence of closely spaced paper sheets, a second detector means to detect the existence of stacked paper sheets, each of said detectors of the detector means comprising a light source and a photosensitive element which are disposed on opposite sides of said path, a rejecting mechanism which is operated by operation of at least one of said detectors so as to reject abnormally disposed paper sheets into a reject box, and a counter adapted to count the number of paper sheets passing through said path; an improvement comprising relay means adapted to actuate said rejecting mechanism and to deenergize said counter in response to the operation of at least one of said first and second detectors; and means for maintaining said relay means in its operated condition for only a predetermined interval, thereby to restore said rejecting mechanism and said counter to their original states after elapse of said predetermined interval. 2. A paper sheet counting machine according to claim 1, wherein the relay means comprises a transistor circuit base whose electrode circuit is connected to the photoelectric element so as to be brought into conductive state when said element is not operated, and a relay connected to the collector electrode of said transistor so as to be operated when said transistor circuit is made conductive, said relay having a contact adapted to actuate the rejecting mechanism when said contact is operated and a contact adapted to open the counting circuit when said contact is operated by said relay; and the means for maintaining said relay means in its operated condition for a predetermined interval consists of a capacitor which is nominally connected to the emitter electrode of said transistor and a switch contact provided in said relay and inserted in the circuit of said capacitor, said switch contact being switched from the said emitter electrode to said relay circuit when said relay is operrated.

References Cited 7 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,982,404 5/1961 Harmon 209l1.7 X 3,025,771 3/1962 Uchida 23592 M. HENSON WOOD, JR., Primary Examiner.

R. A. SCHACHER, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A PAPER SHEET COUNTING MACHINE COMPRISING SUPPLY MEANS ADAPTED TO SUCCESSIVELY SUPLY PAPER SHEETS ALONG A PREDETERMINED PATH, A FIRST DETECTOR MEANS TO DETECT THE EXISTENCE OF CLOSELY SPACED PAPER SHEETS, A SECOND DETECTOR MEANS TO DETECT THE EXISTENCE OF STACKED PAPER SHEETS, EACH OF SAID DETECTORS OF THE DETECTOR MEANS COMPRISING A LIGHT SOURCE AND A PHOTOSENSITIVE ELEMENT WHICH ARE DISPOSED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID PATH, A REJECTING MECHANISM WHICH IS OPERATED BY OPERATION OF AT LEAST ONE OF SAID DETECTORS SO AS TO REJECT ADNORMALLY DISPOSED PAPER SHEETS INTO A REJECT BOX, AND A COUNTER ADAPTED TO COUNT THE NUMBER OF PAPER SHEETS PASSING THROUGH SAID PATH; AN IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING RELAY MEANS ADAPTED TO ACTUATE SAID REJECTING MECHANISM AND TO DEENERGIZE SAID COUNTER IN RESPONSE TO THE OPERATION OF AT LEAST ONE OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND DETECTORS; AND MEANS FOR MAINTAINING SAID RELAY MEANS IN ITS OPERATED CONDITION FOR ONLY A PREDETERMINED INTERVAL, THEREBY TO RESTORE SAID REJECTING MECHANISM AND SAID COUNTER TO THEIR ORIGINAL STATES AFTER ELAPSE OF SAID PREDETERMINED INTERVAL. 